


Marrow and Sky

by cute_nerds



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, Slow Build, assassin!Wonshik, psychic dragon bonded!Leo, space dragons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-09-18 20:19:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9401384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cute_nerds/pseuds/cute_nerds
Summary: (Everyone heard stories about space dragons when they were small – dragons, and the people who twinned with them. They talked about how the dragon and its partner were two beings, but also one; how the wisdom of the other was shared and how it was a beautiful and a tragic thing, twinning, because one of them would inevitably die first, and then the other would be left alone in the world.)It's Wonshik's job to kill Taekwoon, and leave his dragon alone in the world....except it's not that simple. It never is.





	1. Ferrous

Assassins aren’t supposed to stand out. That’s a good rule of thumb; though it was made eons ago when assassination wasn’t aided by cybernetic implants and laser weapons, and disguises weren’t as simple as carding a molecular comb through one’s hair, changing its colour in an instant. Eons ago, Wonshik’s propensity to tumble through the entire rainbow within a galactic standard year would have gotten him caught, regardless of how good a killer he was. However… it’s not eons ago, but eons ahead, and there _are_ cybernetic implants and laser weapons and molecular combs, and Wonshik can have a rainbow for hair if he wants.

Nowadays Wonshik chooses a colour for the job, and chooses whatever kit he pleases; it doesn’t matter here, when he flies between planets and regulations and conflicting systems of law. His being recognized is far from his first concern, with the implant in his collarbone which keeps his face from being caught on film, and so he just picks whatever looks _good_. There’s more than one way to get to a target, after all.

Wonshik likes the red hair he has this time, and he’s already mourning having to change it when the job is done. Not that it was going to be _fast_ this time, oh no.

After all, he’s never captured a dragon before.

He reaches up into the air and flicks his fingers, lighting up the display that holds the information on his target. Jung Taekwoon stares back at him from the display, gaze dark and knowing even on the grainy military ID photo. Once in a blue moon, an individual appears who has the talent (or just sheer stubbornness) to twin with a dragon, and Jung Taekwoon just _looks_ like one of those people, quietly staring into your soul from half-lidded eyes.

He also looks (aside from _very_ pretty) like he knows that Wonshik is coming, and Wonshik stares the hologram in the eye for a moment before slicing his palm through the image, cutting it off in time for his spacecraft to descend.

Whether Jung Taekwoon knows that Wonshik is coming or not, Wonshik will have to kill him. He always delivers.

 

**∞**

_The reason that Taekwoon chooses to stay far from people is not Leo, at least not at first. Others have always pushed and pushed, trying to mold him into something of their own, and he finds it exhausting. There is not enough of his soul to share with everyone; what precious_ him _ness that he has needs to be kept to himself. So he keeps away, and he learns what he wants and eschews what he dislikes, speaks seldom but moves often – walking, climbing, sparring – and even if he does not feel_ whole _, if he has known that since his birth he is missing half of his self, he is content, because he has never given one inch to anyone who does not deserve it._

_That doesn’t mean that he cannot love, cannot be kind, cannot be selfless. After all, it takes a firm grasp of one’s self to be of any use to others. Taekwoon serves in the Clash; he volunteers for their sector, and when he has seen more battles than he can count, heard more pilots die in his headset than anyone ever wants to, when the Clash is finally over and the galaxy has splintered, once more, into sectors, he takes himself as far away as he can._

_And he drifts._

_He’s drifting, still, when he finds Leo… or Leo finds him._

**∞**

 

Space dragons (what they’ve been called, for lack of a better term) apparently don’t have discerning taste in the planets that they choose to stop on, because this one is an actual shithole. Wonshik’s been in worse – he _came_ from worse – but this planet is nothing but dust and rocks and more dust, sprinkled with a few people who look as bland and dry as their surroundings. Wonshik _stands out_ , for sure, but not as much as a dragon does, and before long he knows where the dragon is, and _why_.

Well, maybe Wonshik doesn’t understand the whys and wherefores of space dragons. But he does understand that a mountain range is an excellent place for a massive creature to hide and rest; such is the life of a space dragon, nowadays, drifting until they find somewhere safe. Wonshik understands that drive analytically, he understands it viscerally… and it doesn’t hurt that one of the townspeople has seen Jung Taekwoon, once every week, pick up supplies from the tiny spaceport and vanish in the direction of the hills.

So he sets off. On foot, because there’s no point in coming from the air. It’s a fucking _space dragon_ , after all: if it sees him coming, it’ll just take off and vanish into the stars, and then Wonshik will have to track down a dragon that knows it’s being hunted. He has the element of surprise exactly once and he’s going to have to use it.

Wonshik treks towards the mountains on foot, long red coat just barely staying above the dust. At first it looks a little like a scene from one of those old holos, the flashy hero trekking nobly across a plain, but it very quickly gets hot and burdensome, the weight of the coat and the many weapons it conceals dragging Wonshik down. He doesn’t know why the holo heros and heroines don’t bother with more desert-appropriate clothing, but he’s sure his own garb will come in handy when he has to take on a dragon.

And then drag the scaly creature back to the station that hired him. That’s going to be a job and a half, more thankless than the trek through the plain. Perhaps, Wonshik thinks dryly, he should be savoring what is actually the easiest part of the job. He stumbles on the rough terrain, then, because his mind is not on his feet, and makes a face at himself. Perhaps not.

The shadows of the mountain range are a blessing, and Wonshik takes a deep breath before he brushes his fingers over the breast pocket of his coat. The tough material ripples, a brief miasma of red and grey, and then shifts into a texture more closely resembling the dark grey-brown stone. He tugs up his hood to cover the last remaining bit of red, and then steps forward once more, always moving, never ceasing, towards his next target.

 

**∞**

**  
** _Everyone heard stories about space dragons when they were small – dragons, and the people who twinned with them. And the further out in the galaxy you were, the further you were from the center, the more diverse the stories were, because on these planets where industry was slow and the surface wasn’t entirely covered with cityscape there was occasionally an elder who had met a dragon… or its human counterpart._

_They talked about how the dragon and its partner were two beings, but also one; how the wisdom of the other was shared and how it was a beautiful and a tragic thing, twinning, because one of them would inevitably die first, and then the other would be left alone in the world. Better that they never meet at all, a discerning elder once said, raising an expressive hand towards the stars, because even though the_ emptiness _would be the same, then neither would ever have to feel the loss of being whole._

_Taekwoon understands what the elder meant, the moment that he meets Leo in the middle of space, the dragon blinking out of nowhere and curling around his tiny starship, extending its mind past the hull and under Taekwoon’s skin. He knows (as he slams blindly on the console for autopilot, because he can’t see past the scales or the sudden, overwhelming sense of being complete) viscerally that somehow, the emptiness was better (it was worse) than the sudden fear that grips him, the terror of losing half of his self._

_He can’t go back, Taekwoon knows instantly, even as the dragon is humming soothingly, gently, in his mind. Thankfully, Taekwoon is fairly done with human company after a war, and he’s more than happy to let Leo take him wherever the dragon wants to go._

**∞**

Wonshik hasn’t always been an assassin – or maybe he always has. These are both true, in a manner of speaking; he’s always killed to survive, but sometimes he’s been paid for it. He doesn’t know much else. A childhood on a planet that makes _this_ dusty junkyard in the middle of nowhere look like one of the pleasure gardens of Soli5… let’s just say it sets one up for that kind of thing.

Whether or not he’s always been an assassin, the method is as familiar as breathing to him. He’s blended into the rock, he has his hand on his weapon and his ears open, and the little scanner that’s fitted into the lens over one eye is constantly gathering data and transmitting it to him, telling him _here is a heat signature, there is a long drop_. It would be more efficient if he’d had the scanner implanted, but Wonshik prefers to have as few bits of machinery under his skin as possible (and particularly not in his face), and anyways there’s pride implicit in the challenge, the ability to do something manually rather than with a digital crutch.

He is crouching in the shadow of a fallen rock spire when he hears the sound of wings, and a massive presence registers on his heat sensor as if out of _nowhere._ Wonshik freezes in place, knowing that the coat will make him look like yet another lump of rock, but he tilts his head up just enough to see a long ribbon of scale and sinew vanish over a ridge. The dragon is smaller than he expected, but the brief sight of it hits him like a sledgehammer to the diaphragm, leaving Wonshik catching his breath in the visceral recognition that there is a _dragon_ in this universe, and it is fucking _glorious_.

It’s gone too fast, fast enough that Wonshik spends the next few moments crouching by the rock spire, questioning whether he actually saw it at all. But the scanner tells him that the heat signature wasn’t his imagination, and so does his fast-beating heart.

He’s almost completely in awe as he starts to follow the dragon’s steps. _Almost_ , because he knows why he’s here, even if the dragon is blissfully unaware who’s on its tail.

 

**∞**

_Leo has been alive for centuries and yet, not for any longer than Taekwoon himself. Leo has names for the constellations that are the same and different as Taekwoon’s, and he’s never been in a war, but he has, because Taekwoon has too. This is what it’s like, the other half filling up your memories with things you didn’t do, things you didn’t experience, regardless of whether you want to or not. Leo curls a wing to make a sharp turn and so does Taekwoon. Taekwoon takes a shaky breath in, inside his flight helmet, and so does Leo. For someone that has fought so long to keep half of his self_ to _himself, twinning is a new and overwhelming experience, even as it feels like coming home._

_This_ something _, this sharing that the two of them have, is fragile and precious and coveted by many. Taekwoon discovers this far too soon, and though he has Leo’s memories of outmaneuvering the leaders of various space stations, it’s still a shock the first time that a small, sleek spacecraft jumps out of warp and fires a net of energy at the two of them._

_Taekwoon yells/Leo shrieks and Taekwoon fires back/Leo exhales stardust, the net is vaporized and the spacecraft flees, but Taekwoon/Leo know simultaneously that it has begun. There’s going to be people coming after them, just because of how valuable they are (Leo is, Taekwoon insists, though the dragon gives a mental impression of rolling his eyes every time). Thankfully, most of them aren’t prepared to deal with a space dragon and its human twin, and that’s what keeps them (mostly) unharmed._

_These encounters happen frequently enough, though, that Taekwoon is utterly unsurprised when Leo says that there’s a new spacecraft in dock, military grade. The occupant of the ship is nowhere to be seen, yet, but it’s only a matter of time._

 

**∞**

  
Though the dragon can, apparently, phase in and out of space (something Wonshik was _not_ briefed on, and frankly, he’s more than a little annoyed), he’s fairly positive that Jung Taekwoon cannot. That means that he needs a camp, a base of operations, and that said camp is close by. Wonshik is on his guard as he stalks through the deepening twilight that is settling on the dust and stone; his coat’s colours shifting gently to better conceal him.

For all he knows, the dragon has other abilities he hasn’t been made aware of. In fact, it’s more than likely, and that means that Wonshik has a lot of work to do. But he’s not a professional for nothing, and so it’s the work of a very short period of time to find the rock formations that Jung Taekwoon has taken up residence in, find the best vantage point, and settle in to wait. He’s used to the cold and the uncomfortable place to sleep, so he picks the spot that he thinks is least likely to be used for dragon take-off and tucks himself into the stone, winking his eye to swap through the settings on his scanner so he can find Taekwoon in the low light.

He’s not immediately visible, though Wonshik can see heat in large amounts just over the ridge. But he can be patient. He calls up the military file once again, reviewing what he knows about Jung Taekwoon. In the Clash 5 years ago, he’d volunteered for one of the tiny sectors now swallowed by some Alliance or Empire or Star-kingdom, and risen quickly as a competent pilot. After he’d seen his share of death, and been demoted by whoever had taken power, he’d fucked off to the corners of the galaxy delivering medical aid or doing supply runs or something of the sort until, presumably, he’d met a dragon.

Well, Wonshik had seen the dragon, but he had yet to see the man. Maybe the dragon had eaten him, Wonshik thinks darkly, and chuckles silently at himself. In a way, that would make his job a lot easier.

However, he now registers 2 somewhat distinct heat signatures instead of the previous mass, and Wonshik has a feeling that Jung Taekwoon _hasn’t_ become dragon food. He shifts lightly on the stone, enhancing his view of the area once more, looking to find a flash of humanity among the rocks.

Jung Taekwoon does not move exactly like a human, and so it takes Wonshik a few moments to separate him from the dragon. He _does,_ Wonshik notes from the pixellated readout, emote like a human, smoothing his hands through the air as he says something quiet to the massive scale-bone-heat signature at his side… but he moves like a cat, or maybe (?) a large dragon. His movements are restrained, but sure, denoting power beneath the surface, and Wonshik’s eyes narrow thoughtfully under his hood. He can’t see much of the other man’s face in the dark, and his heat imprint on Wonshik’s retina is bleeding into the dragon’s, but at least he has a better measure of his target now.

It wasn’t as if a _dragon_ was going to be an easy target, Wonshik reminds himself yet again as he watches the two move about, settling in for the night. It is totally irrational to feel more daunted now than he had before. But he does, for some reason, feel unsettled, and Wonshik is feeling an old familiar urge to run.

It’s _probably_ just because of the massive space lizard, Wonshik tells himself. All the same, he doesn’t move until the duo is out of sight.

 

**∞**

 

_Taekwoon doesn’t have to speak out loud to Leo, and Leo doesn’t have to convey his version of speech (images, phrases, feelings – a mental impression), but they both prefer ‘conversation’ to the alternative. Both of them value being twinned beyond words, but they also value being themselves. Leo spent centuries before Taekwoon; Taekwoon spent years before Leo, and those separate experiences make them as strong as the shared once. The constant stream-of-consciousness reel that they_ can _do sometimes makes separating those identities hard, and despite wanting to be able to fly, Taekwoon values knowing that he has hands instead of claws._

_So he doesn’t_ have _to speak out loud, because he knows that Leo has sensed someone nearby (a leather-metal-hard candy plastic smell, as Leo puts it) and because he could just open the thought to Leo like he does many others –_

_But he does speak, because –_

_“It must be cold out there,” Taekwoon murmurs, doesn’t miss Leo’s ears go two different directions; to Taekwoon and towards whoever_ leathermetalcandy _is._ _He looks up at Leo and smiles, faint but warm. “I’m glad I have you.”_

_Leo hums in approval/affection, and Taekwoon hums back._

 

**∞**


	2. Lucent

The stone is cold without the sun (or, perhaps, a dragon's heat), but Wonshik knows better than to move, even though the cold has bled through his coat and is settling uncomfortably against his bones. It's nothing, really, compared to some of the places he's been - like that ice planet that he'd been dug out of (literally), or the back alleys veining his homeworld that drop deep into the dark underbelly of the cityscape.

So, maybe it isn't the cold that's settled in under his skin, making him shift more than he should be doing if he wants to keep unnoticed. Maybe it's something else a little more visceral, the way that Taekwoon was speaking to the dragon, his gut reaction to their presence. Maybe it's that prickling sense of wonder, lingering on his spine and in his fingertips as he tucks his coat closer around him, ever-thankful for all the mods he had built in. Maybe it's just Wonshik being nervous because there's a large, possibly carnivorous creature nearby with the power to turn him into stardust. Even Taekwoon had looked like a bit of a challenge, and Wonshik is doubting himself. Which is silly. This early on, doubt will only lead to mistakes, and Wonshik does not make mistakes in this line of work, not any more.

He's not going to be able to sleep (for whatever reason) if he keeps up like this, and Wonshik knows that he needs to. Just because he _can_ track a target on very little sleep doesn't mean that he should, and so Wonshik sorts his limbs into a more comfortable position and starts to focus on his breathing.

Wonshik can easily remember where he picked up how to do this; the breathing, the calm. Meditative arts aren't exactly common in a galaxy that's busy arming and ripping itself to pieces, but some things have survived by word of mouth and deed. One of his targets had taught him, actually, though that's a story for another time. Wonshik places one hand on his abdomen and the other on his chest and focuses on his breathing, his eyes half-closed in the dark.

And so, the night passes - Wonshik cross-legged on his perch, the dragon curled up in its hollow, and Taekwoon looking to the stars.

  

**∞**

_Twinning a dragon took Taekwoon some getting used to._

_In storybooks and fairy tales dragons are often wise and wily, sitting on a hoard of knowledge and wit. Whether they are villainous or heroic, a dragon is nearly always intelligent. With lifespans like theirs, who could expect anything else?_

_Taekwoon would agree with them, of course. Unfortunately, the stories never say that dragons are_ stubborn _._

_When you're used to getting your own way for centuries, no matter how well-matched you are, you're going to have a habit of thinking you're right. Leo is no exception. The thing is, Taekwoon isn’t any less stubborn than his counterpart_ despite _his lack of centuries, and so that means they often disagree._

_Just like the myths of romantic-paired soulmates seem to imply that the process is all roses, so do a lot of the legends about space dragons. Not all the storytellers are as insightful as the one that told Taekwoon it was an awful and beautiful burden – Taekwoon can tell you firsthand that just because someone is part of your soul does_ not _mean that everything goes smoothly, all the time. Both Taekwoon and Leo have spent too long fighting for their independence to let even their other halves deny them. It’s the one thing that they can agree on when the two of them disagree._

_They’d split up, once, and only once. It was an experience that neither of them would like to repeat, which resulted in Leo nearly losing a wing in a plasma fire and nightmares for them both about cages._

_Since then, they’d argue, but they’d always stay together, no matter what._

 

**∞**

 

Morning is cold and grey and harsh on Wonshik's skin, but he doesn't stretch against the rock face as he would like to, instead clearing his mind and opening his senses (both natural and cybernetic) to the light. There's a detailed startup sequence for some of the implants and his gear, which can now use the light to run more complicated patterns, and Wonshik falls into the routine easily, as if it were just another day and just another job.

It _is_ just another job, Wonshik insists to himself as he stuffs some standard rations into his face. That's all it can be. The more he _thinks_ , the more he wonders instead of doing, the more difficult it's going to be. The element of surprise is only good once, he reminds himself, and if he botches it he's worse than useless to those who hired him. He's surprised to find that the thought doesn't really scare him, but any thought looks soft next to a dragon. Even Wonshik looks soft, and Wonshik is a killer through and through, a weapon born and bred and designed.

(He wonders if Taekwoon is as hard as Wonshik is, if the dragon makes Taekwoon look deceptively still - or, he thinks with the memory of Jung Taekwoon's ID photo, perhaps it it's the other way around)

In the middle of these meandering thoughts, his morning routine is finished without him noticing. Wonshik sighs and readies to go through it again. This is what he means: the loss of focus, of attention to detail. He could have missed something, and that wouldn't do. He can't forget (he won't forget, who is he kidding) what he's up against.

He's finishing the routine for the second time when movement, large and slow, flickers its way into his sensors, and Wonshik freezes with his hand on his wrist, pressing back into the rock. He doesn't turn his head until he's pinpointed the source of the movement, and when he does, he's looking at the horizon as it fills with scale and wing and claw. That visceral, tearing, raw sensation is there; burning in his gut, no less dulled by having seen the dragon before. Wonshik fights for a steady breath and watches. The dragon is too far away for him to shoot with accuracy, and he hasn't spotted Taekwoon yet -

He's spotted Taekwoon, and he loses track of his attempts to breathe.

There is a small figure nestled behind the dragon's wings, tucked into a divot in the scales without any gear as if he'd been born there. The dragon moves and Taekwoon moves, easily, with it, as the dragon dances around a rock spire like it's shaking out and getting ready to go. Wonshik can hear the wings, and a faint trickle of laughter, too, as the dragon dances like a child, getting ready to face the day. The raw sensation has turned into this _ache_ , and Wonshik presses his spine into the stone and his hand into his chest, as if pushing on his heart will get it to behave. He's a goddamn mess, he scolds himself, all because of some fairytale notions about dragons and how fucking - _majestic_ \- Wonshik is not a poet, and he shouldn't be reacting this way. He's a professional -

The dragon takes off.

Wonshik is not a professional. He lets out a gasp, and his heart trembles uncomfortably, beating against the cage of his ribs, as he hears a whoop that can only be from Taekwoon and the pair launch themselves at the stars like they're falling and flying all at once.

 

**∞**

 

_Taekwoon doesn't get tired of flying._

_He gets tired of many things; tired of running, tired of fighting, sometimes too tired to want to get up and do it all over again. But he never gets tired of the air rushing past his face and through hair, of his hands going numb against Leo's scales, of his thigh muscles burning, of the feeling of weightlessness behind his navel. Leo's joy is his joy, and when they get to the right moment, the right spot, this is where they let go of being Leo and Taekwoon and become_ leoandtaekwoon _, and it's just - arching up and arms wide and wings straining and eyes streaming and throats sore from yelling in pure, unadulterated joy._

_Today leoandtaekwoon weave through the rock spires with a kind of lazy recklessness, their scaled sides just brushing the stone in occasion, their laughter pealing out into the sky. Claws dig into the stone as if it were soft clay, hands tighten carefully on slippery scales, and two sets of muscles tense, winding up and ready to launch, the spring coiled and - just - push, whipping into the air, becoming nothing but rush-sky-cold-joy-freedom-sore muscles-streaming eyes-uncontrollable laughter-_ _  
_

_Their wings snap out at the height of their climb, and they float for a moment, weightless, suspended free of care. Down below on the planet, there's an assassin. There's hard, cold stone, and bellies to feed, and the ever-present burden of being hunted. But up here, even as they reach the limit, where leoandtaekwoon's lungs strain and their fingers and noses chill, they are at peace._

 

**∞**

 

The twinned pair rise higher into the sky, and Wonshik feels as though he's going with them, completely mesmerized, until a warning beeping sound brings him back down to earth. A quick check of the systems diagnostic tells him that his heart is going far too fast and his breathing has become so shallow that it's a wonder he hasn't passed out, and Wonshik takes a deep breath, another, trying to ground himself again and keeping his eyes off the sky. He can't believe he's getting so _lost_ on this assignment, so early, and there's a small part of him that's wondering why.

He brushes it away, determined to be a good assassin once more. Any good assassin would take this chance to scout out the camp where Taekwoon and the dragon are living, and so that's what he's going to do. Not too closely, because he has no idea how good a dragon's sense of smell or heat vision is, but close enough to figure out where to end Taekwoon once and for all. Maybe if he manages to _complete_ his assignment, he can sever _whatever_ it is that's drawing him in and return to being whole (well, as whole as he ever was). Perhaps.

Despite his lapses upon seeing the dragon and its rider (the man and his dragon, interchangeable - hard to separate one from the other), Wonshik _is_ a good assassin. He chances one final glance at the sky, where Taekwoon and the dragon (the dragon and Taekwoon) are turning into a speck among the clouds, before he vanishes into the stone maze, step light and sure, hands checking and double-checking his equipment as he turns his back on the stars.

 

**∞**

 

_The air is getting thinner and Taekwoon breathes through Leo,_

_Leo breathes in stardust and atmosphere,_

_their scales start to shine and_

_Taekwoon keens deep in Leo's chest with a longing to keep going_

_and be one with the stars, as he is one with Leo._

_But his body is decidedly and unfortunately less robust than Leo's, and despite Taekwoon's desire, Leo knows better._

_They head back into the clouds so that Taekwoon can breathe again, even though it feels like he's not breathing_ as _well, like breathing city smoke, or the stuffy air inside a transport, after the pureness of lung that is climbing a mountain._

_Leo shakes both their heads in amusement, and leoandtaekwoon spiral into a cloud instead, so they can feel the moisture on the skin/scales of their cheeks and lips, a different kind of skydust coalescing in their eyelashes in pearls -  
_

_Taekwoon never gets tired of flying._

 

**∞**

 

A dragon doesn't need much equipment to survive, but Taekwoon does, and that's what Wonshik is looking for - a camp, a starcraft, something that will mark the area as human and not merely the _otherness_ inherent in a dragon. Taekwoon is a pilot, and if his records are any indication, he's as comfortable in a starship as he is on the dragon's back, so that's Wonshik's starting point. Taekwoon has done a good job of keeping the  _ship_ off the records, but it has to exist - because while Wonshik doesn't know much about the dragon's abilities, he doesn't think that even a dragon can keep a human alive in space.

It doesn't take him long to find it.

There's a camouflage tarp stretched over the ship, and Wonshik identifies parts of it (though not the whole; Taekwoon probably rigged it himself), as well as the feet of the craft that are just visible in its shadow. He's not close enough to see anything else, even with his implants, but it's enough, and he locks the knowledge in his memory. The craft is maneuverable, typically without much firepower, though Wonshik is going to bet that Taekwoon's upgraded it. He and the dragon are _partners_ , and that means that Taekwoon is going to want to have as much firepower as his scaly counterpart. Wonshik thinks through this as if it's normal, as if any of this profiling is  _normal_ , and then shakes himself, wonders how he'd settled into the knowledge of twinning so easily. He decides not to second-guess the advantage, and continues to survey the camp, though his senses are on alert for its occupants' return.

It's well-chosen, but then Taekwoon was military, and he'd know how to choose a defensible base. Since Wonshik isn't planning on a frontal assault, he looks for niches and crevices, vantage points. It'll be easier to shoot them from a distance - the dragon first, he thinks, with a tranquilizer. He's mixed tranquilizers for starbeasts before, but never a dragon, so he'll have to shoot, pray, and then shoot to kill.

It's all very risky, though he's handled other jobs that required a similar level of skill - he doesn't know why his heartbeat weighs down his palms, why his brow is furrowed in worry. Perhaps it's just disheartening, the idea of killing one-half of a dragon. Wonshik (though he shouldn't) wonders if the remaining half will ever fly the same way again.

 

**∞**

 

_When they've wallowed thoroughly in the exhilaration of flight, Taekwoon turns their minds to other matters, as much as he'd like to stay in the air._

_"Where's the ship?" he asks, and Leo hums and banks, turning towards the settlement where Taekwoon gets some of his supplies. Taekwoon doesn't have to specify the ship or why he wants to see it, though he can feel a little impatience coalescing in Leo's mind at the thought of having to land once more. He wrinkles his nose in amusement, knowing Leo will feel it, and Leo huffs in response and sets down a short walk away from the assassin's vehicle._

_It doesn't look like an assassin's vehicle, but Taekwoon knows. It's military-grade, for one, everything from the bolts to the lock on the hull, keyed only to a specific biological lock. For another, it smells like leather-metal-candy to Leo, and Taekwoon's nostrils flare as if he can smell it too. (He can and can't, and he doesn't bother to make the distinction any more). But there's something else to the vehicle, something curious, and Taekwoon narrows his eyes at the hull as if that will make it give up its secrets. His hand extends, fingertip gently tracing a line down the hull. What seems so familiar about it? He can't be sure -_

_Leo shares an image/memory with him, briefly obscuring his vision, and Taekwoon makes a soft noise of surprise... and understanding._

_"Cages," he says, or maybe thinks. Leo mutters a remark, and Taekwoon makes a decision at the same time that Leo does._

_He doesn't have to tell Leo where to go. Leo knows._

 

**∞**

 

Wonshik is preoccupied, but not enough so that he'd have missed a _dragon_ on his sensors. His mind is going in circles, yes, but the technology on and in and around him is not. His instincts remain as sharp as ever. Wonshik knows all this, and that's why he's sure that he's alone as he backs away from Taekwoon's camp to choose a spot to regroup and make a plan of attack.

He unfurls from the spot that he's chosen, where he's going to make the shots that will get him off this godforsaken planet with all its dust and rock and uncomfortable thoughts. His coat shifts, with a tap of his hand, to match the darkening sky and the stone, effectively veiling him from sight, and he makes sure that his hair is tucked under the hood as he turns and jumps, lightly, to the next spire, and the next. He makes the next leap, enjoying the feeling (though it will never compare to flight, he can't help but think) of his body arcing into the air, gravity's brief release before he comes back down -

He doesn't come back down. Something sharp curls around his shoulders and _jerks_ , and Wonshik is tugged into nothingness for a split second, blind and senseless except for the frantic beeping of his monitors, which are telling him that there's no air, there's no light, and that his heart is racing faster than it should be once more, before he's suddenly on the ground of the camp he'd just finished surveying, falling to his knees. Wonshik rolls, instinctively, and comes up in a crouch, because _he's just been pulled through space_ , and there's only one creature that can do that.

His head is spinning, and he sucks in a deep breath of air, trying to ground himself before he dies, or worse, bracing for the inevitable hit. Will the dragon eat him? Will he dissolve in starfire? Wonshik ducks his head and brings his arms up, crossed, to shield himself while he tries to figure out how this mission turned into a complete and total rout.

“You’ve come to kill me,” comes a soft voice, and Wonshik's hands drop in surprise. He's not dead yet, though he doesn't know why - yet another perplexing question in a chain of confusing events. His head lifts, slowly, and he goes to draw his weapon, only to reveal Taekwoon and the dragon watching him with quiet eyes. 

His hand freezes on his holster. He can’t move further in their twinned stares, the dragon soft and patient and Taekwoon equally calm, but full of a surprising steel.

Heroes in holos always have a witty retort, their sharp words serving as a weapon even when they’re backed into a corner. Unfortunately for Wonshik, he has nothing – he’s not a hero, holo or otherwise, and his wit has flown out the window. He bites his lip, uncertainly, looking like a lost child, hating the calm expression on Taekwoon’s face and the searching gaze of the dragon, hating feeling so bewildered when the others merely look knowing.

Taekwoon cocks his head at him, the assassin rendered mute by a few words and a gaze, and then looks at the dragon. “Do you think he’s okay?” Taekwoon asks, and Wonshik’s hands go slack.

He can’t _think_. His heart is beating in his ears, drowning out his mission, his training, anything else. He’s a dead man, standing defenseless in front of a space dragon and its human twin, and yet that isn’t the part of this situation that concerns him. What concerns him is the sudden chasm that has stretched open across his mind, the total stripping of his defenses.

Wonshik drops to his knees, his expression pleading, uncertain, and Taekwoon hums as if he’d expected this, as if he _knew_.

“Try again tomorrow,” he says, infinitely gentle, and then he and the dragon fade into the cliffs.

Wonshik remains on his knees for a long time.

 

**∞**


	3. Osteal

Somehow, Wonshik drags himself to his feet again and manages to get himself looking for shelter, going about the task with the air of a man possessed. His long coat and hood are wrapped around him tightly, a security blanket against things that go bump in the night (if those things were a dragon and his human twin, strangely merciful). If you somehow managed to look at his expression, you'd find it vacant, cool and calculating - with no hint of the confusion that the events of the day had made of Wonshik's nerves.  
  
And they are a mess. Assassins aren't supposed to get rattled, but Wonshik certainly is. The dragon-Taekwoon had reached into his insides and just scooped them out, leaving Wonshik on shaky legs and with a hollow chest... but alive. And the worst of it is that he doesn't know _why_.  
  
Wonshik curses, low and rough, and it echoes into the stone around him. He doesn't care if the dragon/Taekwoon hears. They've already seen him on his knees - let them hear how that makes him feel.

 

  
**∞**

 

  
_Twinning with a dragon is rare enough, but for it to be successful is rarer still.  
  
Taekwoon and Leo are in the ranks of the lucky: they both survived to adulthood, they both knew about twinning and accepted it, and to make it even simpler Leo had been looking for his twin, following a tug in his heart that drew him across the galaxy. Not everyone is so fortunate.  
  
Taekwoon thinks of the dragon egg they’d tried to save at one time, bows his head at the memory and the questions that accompany it. Are you more alone if you never find your twin to complete you, or if you find them and lose them? Taekwoon doesn't know, and he doesn’t want to - doesn’t even want to imagine. He's never wanted to think about it, but… there's an assassin on the planet looking for him, and he supposes now is an appropriate time.  
  
(Well. The assassin has _ found _him, but the finding isn’t the problem, is it?)_  
  
_He stretches out a hand to Leo's wing and trails a fingertip down the membrane, gently, asking a question with his hands. It takes a moment for Leo to shift and blink one eye at Taekwoon, to tell him that the question is silly (he already knows the answer, after all). The guilt eases, just a little, and he settles into Leo’s side and closes his eyes to the thought of the assassin’s expression, full of terror and rapture._  
  
_He can't solve that yet. But he will._

  
**∞**

 

  
Wonshik’s been accused of being a robot, and he’s never wished that this were true more than this moment. He’s pretty sure robots operate on logical parameters, and that’s what he desperately wants: for the universe to fit neatly into boxes, for his head to be organized rather than a mess.  
  
Unfortunately for Wonshik, he's made of blood and bone rather than metal and wiring (for the most part, anyhow) and he has to confront emotional problems as well as logical ones as well as the overarching issue at hand: how is he going to complete his job _now?_  
  
Perhaps he can work through it step-by-step, Wonshik thinks, and does just that - takes a step forward, away from the problem. If he can get some distance, enough to feel safe, perhaps he'll be able to gather his thoughts.  
  
The first step: what direction should he go?  
  
Wonshik decides that he's not going to camp out on the rock face today and turns toward the edge of the mountain range. What's the point in being uncomfortable for the sake of stealth? The dragon has proven already that, if the two of them decide to look, Wonshik is easily found. The thought makes him feel naked despite the coat and gear weighing him down, and he shivers a little, more from that thought than the gathering coolness of the dusk.  
  
It'll take trekking, some of it through the dark, but he's going back to his ship, Wonshik decides. If he starts at the beginning again, perhaps he'll be able to work out a solution. Perhaps he'll feel more settled in his own skin and start behaving less like a shrinking violet once he's surrounded himself in the reminders of his purpose here.  
  
He's not forgetting the fact that his ship is heavily shielded, either. There's safety there, as much as an assassin can count on, though he has an odd feeling that the dragon-Taekwoon doesn't want to track him down.  
  
They expect him to come back, he realizes, mulling over Taekwoon's words as he paces into the dark. But what do they expect to happen? He can't see Taekwoon just embracing a bolt to the back, but they also don't seem to be in a particular rush to defend themselves. It's as if they know something Wonshik doesn't.  
  
Which is ridiculous, he tells himself, and tucks his coat more firmly around his middle. Dragons, twinned or no, can't tell the future. They are bone and blood, just like Wonshik, and bone and blood can be killed.  
  
He shuts off the little voice in his head asking why he hadn't _done_ it if it were so easy, and marched on.

  
  
**∞**

 

  
_After more thought, Taekwoon sits up and presses a hand to Leo's side. His dragon-self grumbles, because he already knows what Taekwoon wants to convey and was pointedly trying to ignore it._  
  
_"Leo," Taekwoon remonstrates, moving his hand in soothing circles. Leo makes another whiny noise, as if he were a youngling rather than centuries old. "I'm asking for one day. You don't even have to leave atmo, or the spires - you can go to that basin, you know?"_  
  
_Leo swings his head to give Taekwoon a baleful look, and though dragons can't really pout, he makes an excellent attempt. The lake basin Taekwoon speaks of (the one with little pearlescent flowers that smell like spring to Taekwoon and some kind of ambrosia to Leo) flickers into their minds at the same time, and Taekwoon nods in confirmation._  
  
_"Of course I want to go to the basin, you know that I like it there," he hums, "But this is important too."_  
  
_Leo doesn't ask Taekwoon if he'll be alright or demand that he return safely (and neither does Taekwoon to him), because they trust that each can handle it, but he considers it. Taekwoon decides that it's a compliment that Leo trusts him, and accepts the knowledge that Leo will return at any sign of trouble. He calls his twin (affectionately) a worrywart, and the two of them settle down to let the stars soothe them to sleep._  
  
_Taekwoon's last waking thoughts are of the day ahead, and how best to deal with their assassin. Sending Leo away is a precaution, one that he hopes will help the other man relax his guard. After all, Leo can be overwhelming - but on the surface of it, at least, Taekwoon is just a man._  
  
_Only on the surface, of course. It had taken meeting Leo to make Taekwoon realize that he'd always had a dragon with him_

_(himself)._

  
  
**∞**

 

  
It seems to Wonshik that he's doing a lot of walking across plains on this mission, and he can't say that he enjoys it very much. The next job he accepts, he's picking something in a _city_ , Wonshik grumbles, where there are transports and hoverlifts aplenty for him to ride (and fewer dragons, though that went mostly without saying).  
  
It isn’t that walking presents any physical challenge, it’s just ... boring. There isn't much to occupy him as he trudges but for his thoughts, which at present aren't precisely _helpful_.  
  
The more distance he puts between himself and the dragon, the more frustrated with himself he feels. He can't believe that he'd been so useless, so frozen, unable to act. He can't believe he isn't dead. On any other job, he would have been - so the question remains: why not on this one?  
  
By the time Wonshik makes it to his ship, he's worked himself up into a stew of frustration and misery. He needs to clear his head, restart, and he does his absolute best to begin that process by breathing deeply and _not_ slamming the hatch as he slides into his craft.  
  
The soft whirring of the startup sequence doesn't calm him as it should. The air is too cool, the lights too bright - Wonshik snaps a command at the interface and presses his hands to his temples.  
  
Maybe he needs to meditate, Wonshik thinks, trying valiantly to settle his breathing. He's safe in his ship, that's the beginning, but now he has to take the next step: now he needs to be calm. He rarely makes good decisions when he's amped up, and he has several scars to prove it.  
  
"Calm," Wonshik tells himself, dropping his hands and trying to relax his shoulders. He shakes his head, then set about the process of taking off his coat and the most cumbersome of his gear, storing them neatly in the places that they belong while he tries to keep his breathing steady. He feels a little lighter (in more ways than one) when he's finished, and he drops into the pilot's seat with a sigh that was more relief than anything else.  
  
His hands hover over the starter, tracing the keypad with tentative fingers. He hasn't considered leaving with any kind of seriousness, not yet. There's too much going unanswered, and he's not so terrified of the dragon twins that he'd rather face the ones who'd hired him, but for a brief moment he entertains the thought of starting the ship and making himself lost among the stars.  
  
It's a nice thought, but only for a moment.  
  
He settles into the chair, takes his hands off the starter and folds them neatly in his lap. The pattern of breathing comes easily, and Wonshik closes his eyes and tries to put the thought of dragons and flying behind.

  
  
**∞**

 

  
_Taekwoon dreams about cages in the past and clouds in the present and stars in the future. There's the heat of the plasma fire under his wings, and the chafing of metal around his wrists, and the weightlessness of flying in his heart. It's such a muddle that he wakes, confused and lost, only to find that Leo has tucked him under his wing and his heart is slowing down._  
  
_There's light rising on the edge of the mountain range, but not enough for Taekwoon to wake fully. He frowns, rubs at his eyes until Leo makes a sleepy protest and then stills, thinking about the assassin and Leo and the sun._  
  
_It's too early to do anything about any of them, and so Taekwoon lets out a sigh and grabs at the dreams that Leo is having and tries to let them tow him back into slumber._  
  
_For a moment he's not sure whose limbs are whose, and his nose itches (but he's not sure which one) but then his muscles relax and Leo's dreams of flying slowly cloud over the memories of the past and worries of the present._

  
**∞**

 _  
_ Wonshik doesn't have a dragon, so he has to clear the cobwebs from his mind himself. _  
  
_ When he had first learned how to meditate, he'd been so worried that he was doing it wrong that he was unable to relax. He'd lie on his back with his muscles tense, unable to breathe slowly enough, listening to the voice of his teacher slowly blend into the background as he worried himself away from the purpose of the exercise. "You have to be patient with yourself," his teacher had said, over and over again, but Wonshik had been unable to reach that point. The emptiness of many meditation techniques was just as the trek across the plain had been - there was too much room for thought, and not enough to focus on.  
  
Wonshik didn't want to be _empty_. He’s had enough experience with that. What he _wants_ is something to ground him, and something to fill that empty space up.  
  
Today he starts with the ship. It has a texture and colour in his mind, the closest thing to 'home' he's got, and so he lets it wrap around him, lets himself feel safe inside it. He breathes in the smell of it (clean, but smelling faintly of leather from his well-used gear) and imagines himself and his ship floating in space, cocooned in stars and darkness. There's more darkness than stars, but Wonshik doesn't find this discomfiting in the least. He's used to the dark, and the space that really just means an endless horizon. It's familiar in a way that makes him calm.  
  
His back starts to relax, and Wonshik lets it, trying to get the tension to bleed out of the muscles. He tries not to wonder if this is how Taekwoon feels with his dragon, tries not to feel regret because he's pretty sure that a dragon twin is a lot more fulfilling than a ship.  
  
Now that he's calm, Wonshik opens his eyes and looks out at the planet without seeing it. What's the next step? He's not sure. Now would be a good time for him to look knowingly into the distance and come up with a brilliant plan, but instead he's a little stuck.  
  
His thoughts return to his meditation teacher, the one he'd eventually killed. He's never had patience with himself, and he doesn't think that he's going to be blessed with patience now. But he also learned something other than meditation from that teacher, and that was this: in all her discussion about patience, and taking time, she had been stalling for her life. Even the most benevolent of individuals wanted something from life, and they would use Wonshik to get it.  
  
Wonshik concludes that the dragon twins must figure they have something to gain from him. He's not sure what, but he'll figure it out.  
  
He stretches, reaches to touch the starter (just for comfort) once more. Wonshik feels more confident now that he's figured this out, because it seems like the two aren't different from everyone after all.  
  
He should feel more content, but he doesn't. Perhaps some part of him is disappointed that even the dragons have games to play.

  
  
**∞**

 

  
_The sun is still struggling upwards when Taekwoon wakes for the second time. Leo has rolled over in the night, like he often does when he feels relaxed and unafraid (pretty often, honestly - what does a dragon have to be afraid of), and so Taekwoon blinks his eyes open to the sky instead of a wing.  
  
It takes him a moment to remember which are his own limbs (the side effect of dreaming Leo's dreams instead of his own), so he remains prone until he's certain that his arms have hands and fingers instead of paws and claws, and then pushes himself up, combing his fingers through his hair.  
  
Leo makes a grumbly noise and rolls onto his own feet, shaking out his limbs in a manner that Taekwoon can only describe as 'aloof'. When he's done, he cocks his head at Taekwoon, who shakes his. They hold a silent conversation consisting mainly of Taekwoon raising his eyebrows and Leo making soft grumpy noises until the dragon flicks his tail and acquiesces. For all his century-old wisdom, Leo sometimes acts like a petulant child.  
  
(Leo tells Taekwoon that's because Taekwoon makes him feel young, but Taekwoon suspects that Leo just likes getting his own way.)  
  
As they eat and pack up camp for the morning, Leo gets progressively more morose. Taekwoon can't be sure if he's annoyed at being left out, worried, or just being dramatic, but he reaches out to him regardless.  
  
He's worried.  
  
Taekwoon hums softly and stretches upward on his toes and with his mind, and Leo makes another grumbly noise, but this one is more fond. _  
  
We'll be fine, _Taekwoon insists, and knows that Leo knows he's right. He's just stubborn._ You won't be far.  
  
_Leo makes another indignant sound, but he agrees. Still, he insists on flying first, and Taekwoon is more than happy to oblige._

 

 _  
_ **∞**

 

 _  
_ Wonshik manages to sleep, surprisingly enough, and he wakes feeling more like an assassin and less like a mass of exposed nerves. He's not sure what step he's on, but he knows that the next part is to cross that goddamn plane again and hunt down the dragon twins. So he'll just... start again. He can do that - he's good at adapting to the situation. It's how he's survived this long. It just took a little grounding for him to remember that.  
  
His element of surprise is out the window, Wonshik thinks, but he can work in other ways. While it's nice to make the jobs clean, without the target ever seeing him, sometimes it doesn't work that way. He'll adjust.  
  
With that decided, Wonshik begins his start-up sequence, focusing on calibrating the sensors so they're at their peak performance. While it seems that they can't warn him about the dragon's unfortunate ability to blink through space, they can help in other ways. Any edge he can get, however slight, is important.  
  
He's halfway through tuning his coat when the proximity sensor on his ship starts to make noise, reverberating through the small space like the inside of a bell. Wonshik frowns and turns to the viewscreen, taps on a few buttons, and blinks, uncomprehending, at the sight before him.  
  
Standing outside his ship, hands tucked neatly in the pockets of his jacket, is the one and only Jung Taekwoon. His hair is tousled, like he's been walking through strong wind (or _flying,_ Wonshik thinks with a stab of envy), and his expression is serene.  
  
The other dragon is nowhere to be seen, but Wonshik's breath is taken away regardless.  
  
"Hello, assassin," says the dragon standing outside his ship. Wonshik narrows his eyes, instantly wary.  
  
"Do you think we could speak?"

 _  
_ **∞**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~things will be clear soon, promise~~

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly am ...not 100% sure where the idea for this came from, but I like it. I hope you do too!


End file.
